WHY LEADERSHIP CRISIS HURTS EVERYBODY

This CES power struggle is very damaging to the rank and file CES follower. They key personalities in the fight are not renegades or hangers-on. They are all top level leadership-- the president and the whole BOD.  In addition, every one of the nine clergy, all of the Top Tier prophets, the chief prophetess (and probably all the Tier Two prophets) are both being accused and accusing the others of gross error that should disqualify them from ministry and leadership. These are the people who are supposed to be truly spirit-led, mature and able to receive revelation from the Lord. Yet they are all steeped in accusation, counter-accusation, error, manipulation, bickering and inability to reconcile.. Followers may well think, if these leaders (who are not only spiritual leadership but also have been friends for decades) can’t get it right, how can the organization they lead get it right? How can anyone? A kind of loss of trust and faith, as well as a feeling of hopelessness follow.

The Graesers noted that over one hundred prophecies had been accumulated which backed Graeser and  opposed the BOD. This means that more people (they did not reveal how many, perhaps to make their side sound larger than it is) across the country are being involved in the fight, which will surely lead to more bad feelings and perhaps to Graeser forming a new splinter group out of the old CES splinter group. Splinters of splinters of The Way Tree.

A few years ago CES claimed to have a mailing list of about 3,000 addresses, or about 5,000 people.  Most of these people joined CES because they were hurt by some of the same turmoil in The Way International. It is not known how many of these will also leave CES in disgust and disappointment.

The Graeser lawsuit alleging defamation of character increases the problem, because 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 clearly states that Christians must not file lawsuits against other Christians. The marriage problems of the Graesers, as well as John Lynn’s two divorces and admitted promiscuity while CES president and board member further complicate matters because of the New Testament emphasis on marriage and stance against divorce. There have been reports that John Lynn was defrocked after his second divorce. If so, it appears that this is not generally known and that he continues to serve as a visible leader nonetheless. (Most conservative Biblical church bodies remove men from the clergy roster and from positions of spiritual oversight for extramarital sex and often for divorce.)

One thing that compounds this problem is that the Graesers and the BOD are following CES teaching and practice, not departing from it. Personal prophecy, testing prophecy, ordained clergy, accountability, confrontation, the Prophetic Council, and the like are all part of established CES doctrine structure and practice.

When CES leaders left TWI, they thought that the problem with TWI was its practice, not its theology. If they make the same mistake again, CES will continue to deteriorate.

Leaders lead by example more than by words.  Their example is extremely troubling and disheartening to CES followers. It is even more troubling because many CES followers see the leaders as more focused on the organization, and the maintenance of their power more than on the good of the people.